Recent advancements in the information technology sector have made available a variety of types of communication modes that are operable to establish one-to-one and/or many-to-one and/or one-to-many interactions between users of information technology devices. These communication modes, for example, can be referred to as voice call, video call, chatting, messaging, and the like.
In order to have a personal interaction a user may choose one of the above referenced communication modes and initiate a discussion. In accordance with known prior art, in order to initiate a video call a user needs to have an account created with one of the available proprietary communication sources, such as Skype™, Google Hangouts™, Facebook™, or other similar web based or mobile applications for communications between users of computers and/or other mobile devices.
Typically, a website of a company or an organization offering such communication services will: (a) provide contact details that facilitate contact by a visitor to the website with a representative of the company or organization; (b) collect required contact details; and (c) advertise or otherwise provide information about the services or products offered by the company. The contact details collected by the company are generally limited to contact number, chat-id, interactive voice response and the like. Such details are not helpful for the visitor to visually identity the representative with whom the visitor is having an in-person interaction.
Other limitations of these proprietary sources is that they cannot be used by a user as a personalized video identity which would enable a user's followers, fans, or other affiliates to identify the user, initiate an instant video call with the user, and/or join and participate in a video call with the user (and potentially other followers, fans and/or affiliates of the user as well).
Several patent documents disclose prior art communication systems including the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 8,248,446 filed on Jul. 6, 2007 discloses a dial URL that when activated in a user's web browser will request that a managing tool determine an available calling route between a user's preferred end-point and the end-point being addressed in the URL with the required resources, and that the managing tool then schedule the resources and initiate the call between end-points. This invention is intended to set-up the route and resources prior to the initiation of a call, and indeed the call will not be initiated until the route and resources are determined. Thus, this invention does not disclose a system operable to conduct a video call which one or more parties can join after the call is initiated on the fly.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0178234 filed on Dec. 4, 2007 discloses a hosting a network site on a computer network and displaying links to one or more videos on the network site. This application does not disclose the facilitation of real time video communication, the application discloses a method of providing access to pre-recorded video content.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0259940 filed on Sep. 23, 2008 discloses a tool that enables an unsophisticated user who does not have any programming technology knowledge to develop and deploy a video application for use on a mobile device. This application may be operable to accept a video call, but this operation is solely for the purpose of receiving instructions to provide particular media to the caller, or to determine that the call should be ended. This patent application does not disclose a system operable to initiate a video call in which two or more parties will participate, and that can be initiated by one or more parties.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,700,714 filed on Dec. 6, 2007 discloses a system operable for video content to be provided as a video stream, and for users to select video content from the video stream for viewing. Users in a stream community can interact by chatting by exchanging written text messages while viewing video content. This patent does not disclose a system for video calling with between two or more parties in real time.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,371,180 filed on Jul. 30, 2010 discloses an apparatus for creating video collaboration between a customer at a point of inquiry and an expert located off-site. This apparatus is operable to allow parties at two locations to be in face-to-face video contact, it does not permit parties at multiple locations to be in face-to-face video contact simultaneously in real time.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0339159 filed on Dec. 26, 2012 discloses a system operable for two users to share data on each user's respective computer environment and to video chat during such sharing of data. The functions of this invention are implemented by a computing device that each of the users must be connected to in order to engage in the video chat. This application does not disclose two or more users engaging in a video call that does not require all users to connect to a single computing device.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0168344 filed on Jan. 31, 2014 discloses a tool for capturing video mail and for processing and distributing video mail. In accordance with this invention video mail is recorded if a second video caller whom a first video caller is trying to reach is not available. This invention therefore does not involve real time video calling between a first caller and a second caller, it is directed to recording video content of a first caller and making this available to a second caller at a later point in time.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0041055 filed on Aug. 6, 2012 discloses a system to control access by a user to an online service. This application requires that all users be classified as malicious or non-malicious.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0102358 filed on Nov. 9, 2004 discloses a system for a method of managing Internet-based communities on the Internet through standard web pages without any requirement for the installation of additional software on either a user's computer or on websites where the system is implemented. The system permits visitors to a registered web page to initiate and participate in anonymous ad hoc chat sessions, and for members of Internet-based communities to message other members. This prior art does not disclose real time video calling between two or more persons.
Additional patent documents that represent prior art in the field of online communications include the following: PCT Application Publication No. WO2014099819; PCT Application Publication No. WO2009146293, filed on May 22, 2009; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0166382, filed on Feb. 21, 2013; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0179494, filed on Aug. 24, 2012; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0220092, filed on Feb. 13, 2007; U.S. Pat. No. 8,191,001, issued on May 29, 2012; U.S. Pat. No. 8,145,659, issued on Mar. 27, 2012; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0288951, filed on May 13, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 7,885,913, issued on Feb. 8, 2011; U.S. Pat. No. 7,822,821, issued on Oct. 26, 2010; U.S. Pat. No. 8,667,072, issued on Mar. 4, 2014; U.S. Pat. No. 8,612,360, issued on Dec. 17, 2013; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0174038, filed on Jan. 4, 2012; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0013230, filed on Jul. 8, 2013; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0178234, filed on Dec. 4, 2007; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0118474, filed on Oct. 25, 2013; PCT Application Publication No. WO2012096794, filed on Dec. 31, 2011; U.S. Pat. No. 8,548,978, issued on Oct. 1, 2013; U.S. Pat. No. 8,682,809, issued on Mar. 25, 2014; U.S. Pat. No. 8,745,647, issued on Jun. 3, 2014; U.S. Pat. No. 8,671,089, issued on Mar. 11, 2014; PCT Application Publication No. WO2014089686, filed on Jun. 12, 2013; U.S. Pat. No. 8,558,863, issued on Oct. 15, 2013; U.S. Pat. No. 6,909,708, issued on Jun. 21, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 8,181,218, issued on May 15, 2012; PCT Application Publication No. WO2001067760, filed on Mar. 9, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 7,835,509, issued on Nov. 16, 2010; U.S. Pat. No. 6,898,620, issued on May 24, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,079, issued on May 26, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 7,185,054, issued on Feb. 27, 2007; U.S. Pat. No. 7,433,921, issued on Oct. 7, 2008; U.S. Pat. No. 8,730,296, issued on May 20, 2014; European Patent Application Publication No. EP2460127, filed on Jul. 27, 2010; Canadian Patent No. 2,157,895, issued on May 18, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 8,063,929, issued on Nov. 22, 2011; U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,105, issued on Sep. 7, 2004; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0066355, filed on Sep. 14, 2011 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,838,696 on Sep. 16, 2014); U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0306317, filed on May 27, 2009 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,819,132 on Aug. 26, 2014); Canadian Patent No. 2,296,182, issued on Dec. 19, 2000; U.S. Pat. No. 6,665,395, issued on Dec. 16, 2003; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0127983, filed on Jan. 29, 2013; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0120270, filed on Nov. 15, 2010; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0039433, filed on Oct. 15, 2012; U.S. Pat. No. 8,514,842, issued on Aug. 20, 2013; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0080460, filed on Feb. 24, 2010.